


Survivor and the beast

by shipnuggets



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Apocalypse, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Infected Characters, Keith is a zombie, M/M, POV Keith (Voltron), Post S7, Survivor Shiro, Tags will be updated as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 15:02:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16410719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipnuggets/pseuds/shipnuggets
Summary: After the paladins save the earth, the Galra return. They leave death and infection in their wake. Keith turns out to be one of the infected and encounters Shiro, one of the survivors. Will they be able to exist side by side like old times, despite being exact opposites; alive and death?





	Survivor and the beast

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this fic! It's my first time writing an apocalyptic fic, so let me know what you think! 
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: https://shipnuggets.tumblr.com/

Keith doesn’t know how many days have passed. How many times the trees have lost their leaves and regained them again with the coming and going of the seasons. No recollection of time, not since the epidemic happened.

He passes the endlessly long days feeling empty, having nothing on his hands. He just walks around all day, feeling hungry. But he knows the kind of food his body wants, and refuses. Walking around hungry is not ideal, it leaves him feeling on edge, but it’s better than the alternative. It’s not like his body even needs food anyway. He feels nothing. No pain. No itching. No heartbeat. Just an empty vessel containing the remnants of what once used to be a body and soul.

He can still think, which is both a blessing and a curse, considering he has all the time in the world to do so. Talking is a whole different matter. Apart from grunts and groans, none of the infected is really able to say words, let alone form sentences. Sometimes, Keith manages to spit out short words, like "Hungry". There are a few others of the infected he knows are able to say words now and then too. Sometimes they have some sort of conversations: the exchange of a few words. Often nothing more than saying they're hungry. Keith wonders if others of the infected can think too? Keith alway imagined zombies didn't have anything like a brain, but turns out he’s wrong.

One of the other infected is James Griffin. He and Keith have never been anything close to friends, but when they stroll past each other, they grunt as to acknowledge each other's presence. Keith has seen some others too, like Iverson and Veronica. He hasn’t seen the other Paladins around, so he hopes they found a way to escape the epidemic that caused all of this. If that's the case, there's hope left for the rebellion. He knows for a fact that they're not in the Galaxy Garrison, considering the place is overrun by the infected. It's one of the hotspots, because sometimes survivors will drop by to get supplies. Somehow, the infected seem to know that and there's always a horde somewhere around the Garrison.

Not knowing what happened to the other paladins and most of the crew of the Atlas is hard for Keith. He keeps worrying about them, especially Shiro. After all Shiro’s been through, he certainly doesn't deserve getting infected. The uncertainty of their fate keeps Keith busy most of the time. If he had just been around the Galaxy Garrison during the epidemic, at least he’d have known what happened to them. But Keith happened to be on a solo mission during the attack, recruiting people for the Voltron Coalition in a city a few miles away. He remembers Shiro warning him through the communication system that Galra ships had entered earth’s atmosphere and ordering him to come back to the Garrison. When Keith almost reached the black Lion, he saw them. 

There were a few Galra Ships in the air above him. Not enough for an invasion, but he was sure they weren't here to make friends either. Keith was standing right in front of the lion when it happened. The last things he remembers before collapsing was the sky turning purple and a weird smell. 

His body started shaking and he broke out in a sweat. When he looked around, everyone did the same thing. The shaking got worse before coming to an abrupt end. He felt his body get very cold and couldn't feel a heartbeat anymore. His eyelids felt way too heavy and after a while he blacked out, thinking to himself that this was the end.

Against all odds, Keith opened his eyes again. But he felt different. He started walking towards the Galaxy Garrison, because the black lion was gone and immediately noticed walking was way harder as usual and only progressed slowly. His body felt like it was decomposing, and he later found out it actually was. But he kept going, believing something would happen when he arrived at the Garrison.

Turns out he was quite wrong. He’s been strolling around the Garrison grounds for a while now, wasting time for.. days? Weeks? Months? When Keith arrived, the Garrison was already taken over by the infected. Every survivor already being killed or infected. The only living soules around the Garrison are the survivors in the surrounding towns who might sometimes take a chance and try to get some supplies out of the Garrison. Not all of them succeeded.

He was just walking his usual round inside the Garrison, still hoping for anything to happen and free him from this miserable dream, when he heard voices. The voices whispered full words and sentences, so it had to be survivors. But if Keith could hear them, so could the other infected. Keith decided to follow the sounds of the whispers and warn the survivors. 

During the time the earth was under Sendak's rule, the Galaxy Garrison stored the retrieved supplies in one of the bigger storage rooms. Their voices seem to lead keith there, which could mean the survivors know the Galaxy Garrison well. This made Keith curious to know who the survivors were, maybe he knows them? Maybe they can get him out of this place. When he crossed the hallway and was standing around the corner, he heard the voices again, clearer this time.

"Do we have everything team? Let's get out of here."

Keith almost jumped out of his skin, if that would've been possible, when he recognized the voice. The person talking was none other than Shiro!

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr: https://shipnuggets.tumblr.com/


End file.
